Biology

Physiology

Raichu is a rather small tailed bipedal rodent. It is able to run faster on all fours. Like Pikachu, from which it evolves, Raichu has long ears and feet, and stubby arms. Also like Pikachu, Raichu has two horizontal brown stripes on its back. Its long, thin tail has a broad, lightning bolt-shaped end. Unlike Pikachu, however, it does not have fingers.

Raichu is yellow-brownish in color, with a white belly. Its arms are halfway brown, as well as its feet. The soles of its big feet are tan colored. Its bifurcated ears are brown on the outsides and yellow on the insides, and end in a distinctive curl at their bottom-most point. The electric sacs on its cheeks are yellow.

Gender differences

A female Raichu has a smaller, blunted lightning bolt at the end of its tail.

Special abilities

Although quite small in comparison to many other Pokémon, Raichu is capable of storing over 100,000 volts of electricity in its body. If Raichu’s electricity sacs are fully charged, its ears will stand straight up. Raichu exudes a weak electrical charge from all over its body that makes it slightly glow in the dark. Raichu is also capable of wielding various fighting moves, such as Focus Punch, Brick Break and many more. As Raichu is a fully evolved Pokémon, it is capable of using powerful moves like Hyper Beam and Giga Impact.

Behavior

Raichu is much more aggressive than Pikachu, especially if it has stored too much electricity in its body. It needs to discharge this electricity through its tail into the ground, leading to scorched patches of earth near its nest. However, Raichu can sometimes be timid Pokémon, using Dig to hide or zapping people from fear, especially if it thinks its Trainer is scared of it, as shown in Stage Fight!.

It will constantly electrify objects, people, and Pokémon until its electricity level is back to normal. When searching for electricity, Raichu will raise its tail to gather electricity from the atmosphere or plant its tail in the ground.

Raichu made a cameo in The Legend of Thunder!. It was one of the Electric Pokémon that were lured by the "Miracle Crystal" that Attila and Hun were using. Raichu tried to be the hero by zapping the crystal, but the attack bounced back to itself.

Raichu's FireRed Pokédex entry references a 1903 documentary film called Electrocuting an Elephant by Thomas Edison.

Several Pokédex entries claim Raichu can discharge up to 100,000 volts. However, its Stadium entry claims it can only discharge up to 10,000 volts. This is likely a translation error due to the way numbers are read in Japanese, where 100,000 literally reads "ten ten-thousands".

Although Pikachu is the starter of Pokémon Yellow, it is not possible to directly evolve it into Raichu in the game, and must be traded in from Red and Blue. This inability to evolve Pikachu is a reference to Ash's Pikachu in the anime.